Luke 19:1-10 — Seek and Save!!!!

READ THIS: Luke 19:1-10

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

A lot of people have a lot of different answers to the questions of "Who is Jesus?" and "Why did Jesus come?" This story helps answer those questions. 

According to this story, Jesus is someone who doesn't judge people based on their jobs or based on their reputations. Jesus is someone who is willing to go up and talk to people that everyone else has already discounted. 

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Sometimes, when people don't know Jesus, all they know are Christians. And sometimes the first thought about Christians can be that they are pushy, rude, hypocritical, and/or judgmental. But this story shows how Christians are supposed to be. We are supposed to be loving and accepting, but we're also supposed to live in a way that makes other people want to live better. Zacchaeus had one loving interaction with Jesus, and he wanted to change the way he was living. 

Part of seeking the lost is going to where the lost are, even if it's up in a tree or in a tax collector's booth. Part of saving the lost is letting them know that they aren't too far from Jesus, no matter how high the climb or how bad their crimes. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Who are the "sinners" around you and how do you think you make them feel around you? 
 
2. What do you do to seek and save the lost?

TRY THIS:

Go talk to ONE of the people you see as a sinner and do something to seek/save them?! (Clarification...nothing we do actually saves anyone--only Jesus does the saving!)

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